Sam sat down on the bed with his head in his hands. The rain beat against his window, the sound of his breath echoed loud accompanied by his heartbeat.
Alone
For the first time all day he could think, but before he had a chance to finally straighten out the thoughts spinning in his head he felt the inexorable grip of tiredness creep up on him.
Lying back with a thump, the sobs racked his body. He wept until his heart ached with longing, pulling him into the painful nothing induced by the numbing amounts of alcohol he had been consuming solidly. Sleep was a long time coming but when it came it brought restless dreams of whirling, screaming noise. Old memories of Annie, yelling at him not to leave him while she hauled Chris along. Maya saying goodbye echoed in his drunken mind.
"Sam?"
The knock at the door ripped through the dregs of sleep in Sam's brain. Rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand he stretched torpidly and reached for the latch of the door.
Annie.
She stood nervously in the hall looking at him with worried, deep brown eyes.
"Sam?" her voice begged him to be okay. " Are you alright? … Only, you missed work today and yesterday. You didn't ring to say you were ill and I thou-I mean the Guv' thought you might be a bit… well… you know"
"Tied up?"
He grimaced as voice showed its disuse and he leant heavily against the doorframe.
He gestured for her to come in, and she inhaled sharply and stepped over the threshold. There were whisky bottles in a row by the bed and an aroma of sickly sweet alcohol and the faint scent of vomit. She stood and watched him wobble his way to the bathroom and sighed as she saw the hurt he was pushing away.
Sam was washing his face and looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in two days. He was growing a beard; he lifted an arm to rub bemusedly at the new hair on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair a mess.
"Sam…" Annie called " I should get back to work, the Guv' said to pass on this message and come straight back." A long pause, "He said… get your arse into gear and…"come back soon she added silently.
Sam smiled as; no doubt Annie had censored and refined the worst of Gene's command. The door slammed and he grabbed his jacket, dashing after Annie.